Golf experienced rapid growth during the pandemic. Bruin Capital is getting in on the action, acquiring a controlling stake in swing simulator company Full Swing for $160 million.

The stake was purchased from North Castle Partners, which will remain a shareholder.

A six-year-old private equity firm, Bruin Capital has steadily grown its roster of sports and media companies.

• Earlier this month, it acquired sports betting media company Oddschecker from Flutter for $218 million.
• In March, it became co-owner of Australian sports marketing company TGI Sport with a $100 million investment.
• In December 2019, it bought an 80% stake in Two Circles, a London-based sports marketing agency, at a $42 million valuation.

Full Swing, which uses screens and AI to simulate a golf course experience in an indoor space, is part of the growing industry of off-course golf products. That includes Topgolf, which Callaway Golf acquired in March by purchasing the 86% stake it didn’t already own for $2.6 billion.

Full Swing is partners with Topgolf, the PGA Tour, and Tiger Woods, among others.

Fashion sales are booming, and Louis Vuitton Möet Hennessy continues to reap the benefits. 

The luxury conglomerate reported $33.8 billion in revenue for the first half of 2021, a 56% increase compared to a year prior.

The strong start was driven by LVMH’s largest group, Fashion & Leather Goods, which saw record revenue of $16.3 billion.

LVMH’s list of businesses is expanding, and its sports ties are getting deeper.

• It bought Tiffany for $15.8 billion in January and purchased 50% of Jay-Z’s Armand de Brignac champagne the next month. 
• Last week, it acquired a 60% stake in Off-White. Created by Louis Vuitton men’s artistic director Virgil Abloh, the brand produces athletic apparel and a popular line of sneakers with Nike.
• Louis Vuitton produced this year’s NBA Finals trophy case.
• Dior released Air Jordans; Hennessy partners with the NBA; TAG Heuer sponsors Porsche racing and Naomi Osaka; Veuve Clicquot sponsors the Polo Classic.

CEO Bernard Arnault credits the success to “having continued to innovate and invest in its businesses throughout the pandemic.”

LVMH’s market cap crossed $400 billion for the first time this month.

NBCUniversal recorded a 72% increase in streaming audiences for the Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony on Friday, compared to the 2016 edition— but posted its lowest overall viewership numbers in 33 years.

• Including streaming, NBC’s Olympics audience dropped 36% to 17 million viewers. The Rio Opening Ceremony had an audience of 26.5 million people; London’s 2012 ceremony reached 40.7 million.
• NBCUniversal streaming service Peacock didn’t launch until 2020 — the 2016 streaming numbers come from NBC’s Olympics site and the NBC Sports app.

The Comcast-owned company redeemed itself as the weekend went on. Viewership of morning cable coverage increased 24% on Saturday compared to the same day in Rio, and Peacock landed its most-watched Saturday since the service’s launch.

It’s a good sign for Olympic advertisers, who have spent approximately $1 billion for the Tokyo Games. NBCUniversal spent roughly $12 billion for media rights to 10 Olympics Games through 2032.

After a shaky start — including Simone Biles recording uncharacteristic errors, and Team USA losing its first Olympic basketball game since 2004 — the U.S. is back among the leaders with 14 medals (seven gold, three silver, and four bronze).